Ohioans given an average of 15 minutes warning before tornadoes

Residents in Moore, Okla., had 16 minutes before tornado cut through town

5:16 AM,
May 23, 2013

Written by

Russ Zimmer
CentralOhio.com

Tornadoes are one of the most powerful forces in nature; winds in the tornado that tore through the suburbs of Oklahoma City rotated at 200 mph or more. Humans can't stop them from occurring, but forecasters strive to provide as much of a warning as possible.

Oklahoma residents in the path of Monday's EF-5 tornado had 16 minutes of notice that a tornado had formed. At least 24 people were killed and 200 were injured, but the death toll was feared to be much higher after the tornado cut a swath through Moore, Okla., a city of 41,000.